Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road

Monday, February 13, 2023

The Vicar of Nibbleswick ★★★✬☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Vicar of Nibbleswick
Series: ----------
Authors: Roald Dahl
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Childrens Fiction
Pages: 6
Words: 1K

I have no idea how this story got to be on its own instead of being folded into some sort of collection. Be that as it may, this feels like a good ending to my Dahl re-read. Short and sweet and amusing.

The Vicar says words backwards and Dahl has a blast figuring out language tricks to make things sound not just nonsensical but actually correct grammatically while being totally wrong in what the poor Vicar is trying to say. One funny instance is him trying to tell the congregation not to “park” their cars alongside the front of the church but to use the back parking lot. I laughed, as it comes out like telling them to not krap in front of the church, hahahhaa. Good stuff!

Having started my Dahl re-read back in December of ‘21 with Matilda, which is close to being one of his longest books, like I mentioned at first, this short story felt like a great way to finish things up. I’ve enjoyed this almost year and a half journey of exploring Dahl all over again but I’ve realized that I probably won’t do it again on my own. I feel like Dahl has a magic circle that his books work in and I’ve simply aged out of that circle. They are still wonderful and amusing stories and I’ll remember them very fondly, but I am now done.

★★★✬☆

Sunday, February 12, 2023

The Return of Santiago (Santiago #2) ★★★✬☆

Title: The Return of Santiago
Series: Santiago #2
Author: Mike Resnick
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 278
Words: 122K

So, a hundred or two years after the first Santiago book, some small time thief discovers the original manuscript from Black Orpheus and decides that he wants to become his successor, a Dante. So he realizes that he needs a Santiago to center the continuing poem around sets out to find one. With the help of some colorful characters he attempts to recruit various bigger than life characters to become Santiago only to realize that each one is pretty flawed each time. Eventually, with the help of his co-horts hitting him over the head with it, he realizes HE is the new Santiago.

Santiago was published in 1986 and was a completely standalone novel. Return was published in ‘03 and did a bit of fancy dancy stuff to make it possible to need a “return of Santiago”. While I still enjoyed this, it simply wasn’t in the same league as the first book and really felt like Resnick was trying to recapture the magic (and failing). Thankfully, he doesn’t recycle the same set of characters as was presented in the first book, so that was good. But none of them quite lived up the engaging’ness of the cast of characters we met in the first book.

If you liked Santiago, then I would recommend Return if you really need to be a completionist. However, I would strongly caution you to think twice, as this just isn’t as good. Not bad, but not as good.

★★★✬☆

Friday, February 10, 2023

Full Moon (Blandings Castle #8) ★★★✬☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Full Moon
Series: Blandings Castle #8
Authors: PG Wodehouse
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humor
Pages: 200
Words: 78K

A full novel with the further (mis)adventures of the residents and guests of Blandings Castle. Ther_e is the usual crossed lovers denied entry to paradise by disapproving aunts. There are wayward sons doing stupid things. There are in-laws and Uncles calling everyone else pigheaded. There are artists. Of course there is the Empress, the Queen (pig) of the Castle. And jewelry.

Throw it all together into a blender, select high speed to take the edge off that chunky jewelry, blend for 1minute and voila, another perfect Blandings Castle story. I mean, that is all Wodehouse really does. He takes various well-used but still amusing ingredients and simply mixes them together in new ways. It is genius.

Now, most of Wodehouse’s works are just plain silly and if you’re not ready for it or feel in the need of some big fat literary literature, they probably won’t tickle your funny bone. But I was not in the mood for big fat literary literature with out of touch snobs telling me lies about crap that didn’t matter, so this hit the spot exactly. I was tempted to give it 4stars for how much I enjoyed it, but that was more down to circumstances (that hopefully won’t be duplicated) than to the book itself. So 3 ½ it is!

★★★✬☆

Thursday, February 09, 2023

The Quarry (Groo the Wanderer #14) ★★★✬☆

Title: The Quarry
Series: Groo the Wanderer #14
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 23
Words: 2K

Groo gets lost in the desert, passes by an oasis of comely babes and ends up working in a quarry. Where he does everything wrong, everything. He pushes when he’s supposed to be pulling. He threatens the slaves with his sword. He gets crushed by a massive stone block. He ties up the ship wrong so it floats away and crashes and sinks. Eventually, he destroys a massive edifice to the local king and runs away. Of course, the destruction revealed a cave of jewels that was enough for the local folks to all buy their freedom.

Despite Groo’s inability to do anything correctly, Aragones has the knack of giving us that twist right at the end. It is almost always there and it is impossible to predict. I love that! It’s like a tragic comedy version of the Twilight Zone, except Groo is the butt every time, hahahahaa.

This comic is keeping me entertained, every time. Unlike certain Mutant Turtles, I haven’t had a bad experience yet. They’re not all top notch, but not a one where I question if I should continue or not. I guess Aragones and I have a shared sense of the ridiculous :-D

★★★✬☆

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Wednesday, February 08, 2023

Fullmetal Alchemist #2 ★★★★☆

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist #2
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: Hiromu Arakawa
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 187
Words: 9K

Even with the Shou Tucker (the Stitching Alchemist) arc, I still really enjoyed this volume. Unfortunately, Shou murdering his wife and then 2 years later his little daughter to create talking chimeras was just brutal. I still remember this from the anime and it had a lot more heart and punch than was presented here in the manga.

There is a lot of info revealed yet again. Another entity, Envy, is revealed and we’re also treated to the debut of Scar, an alchemist who is one of the last surviving Shambalans. Shambala was a country that defied the Government and said government used State Alchemists to wipe it off the map in retaliation. Lust, one of the entities, reveals that the Entities have some sort of master plan that the Elric brothers figure into but we’re not given much info beyond that.

Lots of existential angst and wondering if the rules are good and fights. Oh, the fights are grand. Scar has the power of destruction and explodes people and things and is also apparently superhumanly fast. Ed gets his arm destroyed and Al gets massive holes blown in him. The volume ends with them going back to their home village to be repaired by the mechanic who created Ed’s automail arm and leg in the first place.

My only quibble here was how everyone didn’t shoot first and ask questions later when it came to Scar. He has already killed over 15 state alchemists but nobody shoots him. They try to go mano a mano with predictable results. There’s a reason we have armies of soldiers now and not one of warriors.

★★★★☆

All My "Fullmetal Alchemist" Reviews

Tuesday, February 07, 2023

The Anubis Gates ★★★★★

Title: The Anubis Gates
Series: ----------
Author: Tim Powers
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 353
Words: 162K

I’ve read this multiple times before and so I was wondering how this would turn out. After my recent experience with On Stranger Tides I had high hopes though and thankfully, this not only met those hopes but exceeded them.

Some old used up has-been magicians are trying to bring back the old gods of Egypt into our modern world (well the 1800’s through 1980) but with magic drying up like a raisin, things don’t quiiiiite go as planned. One of them gets possessed by Anubis and pretty much turns into a body switching werewolf. Another side effect is that time holes open up and people from our time figure it out and a dying tycoon takes advantage of it for his own purposes. Then the main character gets stuck in the past and has to deal with various other mad magicians who also cycle through time (they are trying to change history but their efforts simply make it happen, of course) and there is murder and mayhem and romance and lots and lots of weirdness. I loved every second of it. The magic was just different enough that it didn’t affect me like in Powers’ other books and for that I am grateful.

The only weak point is the ending. Once the main character accepts that he is now an obscure poet in a new body (that body switching Anubis guy causes a LOT of problems), Powers takes us through his life in about 10 pages and then right at the end, when he’s like 60 or something, (at least if I did my math right) he gets to live his own life. It was a very amateurish attempt to deal with Free Will and Pre-destination. That wasn’t the main point of the book, but it was a theme and I didn’t feel that how it was handled was very professional.

For a book that I am giving 5stars too it seems like I should have more to say. But since this is at least my 3^rd read, if not more, simply being able to enjoy the story and saying so is going to have to be enough.

This re-read has convinced me to seek out Powers’ earlier work, The Drawing of the Dark. From my experience, the further into the past I go with Powers, the better I like his stuff. DotD was published in ‘79 so if my hypothesis is right, it should be right up my alley and possibly the book I like best by him. Only time will tell.

I’ve included the original 1983 cover, because just like with Santiago, this image is what is burnt into my brain to be associated with this story. While some of the later covers look very nice and all, they’re just not the same garish awesome that I want. The little picture up above is clickable for a much bigger version for those who are curious.

★★★★★

The Anubis Gates (2006 Review)

Sunday, February 05, 2023

Dates with Death ★★★✬☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Dates with Death
Series: ----------
Editor: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 210
Words: 76K

Due to everything going on when I read this (see my “Personal” section of the January ‘23 Roundup and Ramblings post), I simply don’t remember a thing. So I’m including the table of contents and calling it good. The rating is based off of my previous Hitchcock reads and the fact that I can remember nothing bad about any of the stories.

TOC

THE DUSTY DRAWER - Harry Muheim

DRUM BEAT - Stephen Marlowe

THE USES OF INTELLIGENCE - Matthew Gant

THE QUEEN’S JEWEL - James Holding

THAT TOUCH OF GENIUS - William Sambrot

THE CROOKED ROAD - Alex Gaby

THE AMATEUR - Michael Gilbert

THE SINGING PIGEON - Ross Macdonald

JUSTICE MAGNIFIQUE - Lawrence Treat

GREEDY NIGHT - E. C. Bentley

A HUMANIST - Romain Gary

THE OBLONG ROOM - Edward D. Hoch

DEAD MAN’S STORY - Howard Rigsby

THE JANISSARIES OF EMILION - Basil Copper

CHINOISERIE - Helen McCloy

★★★✬☆

All of My “Alfred Hitchcock” Reviews

Friday, February 03, 2023

The Hastur Cycle (The King in Yellow Anthology #6) ★★★✬☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Hastur Cycle
Series: The King in Yellow Anthology #6
Editor: Robert Price
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Cosmic Horror
Pages: 329
Words: 139K

Price appears to be a HP Lovecraft and Cthulhu buff and one of those bores who will kill a party quick as spit by telling you the historical importance of the works of HPL and why it matters. HPL did enfold some of the King in Yellow mythology into his works and thus, Price splits this book into stories directly about the King in Yellow and the rest are about Cthulhu with some of the KIY mythology names tacked on.

They were still good stories and I enjoyed them, but I wanted All the King in Yellow, All the time and I didn’t get that. So I waffled between giving this 3 or 4 stars and ended up coming down in the middle because my disappointment was perfectly balanced with my overall enjoyment.

This definitely felt puffed. Price includes a full story from both Chambers (who wrote The King in Yellow) and Lovecraft (who wrote Cthulhu) and while I appreciated that as it helped tie down the other stories by reminding us of why they were included. Saying a “random” name once in your story appeared to be enough to be included, so knowing how that “random” name actually tied into the mythology was good. But it didn’t take away from the fact that Price was including copyright/royalty free stories to pad the page and word count. Instead, I wanted all new stories and I didn’t get that.

Overall, between the “feels like padding” stories and the fact that this wasn’t strictly a KIY collection, I had to ding it. As a cosmic horror collection, I think it’s pretty good though. So there’s your mixed message for the day :-)

★★★✬☆

Thursday, February 02, 2023

Mending Fences (Bone #17) ★★✬☆☆

Title: Mending Fences
Series: Bone #17
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 22
Words: 1K

Gran’ma Ben reveals that Thorne is a lost princess, that the Lord of the Locusts is her deadly enemy and that war is now inevitable. We also learn that the Lord of the Locusts is just an underling to some invisible spirits who live in a deserted cave. Yeah, that is EXACTLY what I want to find out when I read a comic.

When I read the One Volume way back when, the turn into an epic fantasy storyline took me by surprise. Here, with the change in direction taking so long, I’m almost ready to close my eyes and take a nap while Smith drives us around that curve.

★★✬☆☆

All My "Bone" Reviews

Wednesday, February 01, 2023

Trouble for Lucia (Mapp & Lucia #6) ★★★☆☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Trouble for Lucia
Series: Mapp & Lucia #6
Authors: E.F. Benson
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humorous Fiction
Pages: 281
Words: 81K

The final Mapp & Lucia book by Benson.

While I enjoyed this, I am at the same time glad it is over. Both Mapp and Lucia were so petty and small minded that it stopped being fun part way through it. In one instance Lucia is so taken up with presenting an “image” that she even freezes out her husband Georgie, who has been used to seeing her in private as she really is and loves that side of her. That was unpleasant to read about. Then Mapp. She becomes the Mayor’s Woman (a post to empower females) AND becomes a Town Councilor and her only goal is to stymie and undercut Lucia. The level of backstabbing and bickering jumps to a whole new level too.

There are still flashes of the humor from previous books but it wasn’t as prevalent. Definitely not a series I ever plan on re-reading and it really put the kabosh on me seeking anything else by Benson.

★★★☆☆

All My "Mapp & Lucia" Reviews